By David Luhnow

LONDON (Reuters) - Most people don't go looking for ticks and snakes. But a private British biotechnology company has gone out of its way to collect saliva and venom from such unlikely creatures in the hopes they can unlock promising new treatments for conditions like asthma.

Oxford-based Evolutec said on Wednesday it won its first likely patent on a range of proteins derived from the saliva of blood feeding ectoparasites such as ticks and the venom of snakes, scorpions and spiders. The so-called notice of acceptance by the New Zealand Patent Office is only part of the company's effort to secure similar patents in 26 nations including the United States, Japan, Britain and most of Europe.

The full New Zealand patent will be issued in 30 days if no legal objection is filed, the company said, adding that so far no insurmountable objections had been raised in New Zealand or any other territory. The patent covers all Vasoactive Amine Binding Proteins, which the company said affects our immune systems and influence inflammation and haemostasis such as blood clotting and dilation of blood vessels.
　　 The patent is the first external validation of the originality and patentability of our discovery research,'' said Dr. Wynne Weston-Davies, Evolutec development director. ``This is an important milestone for Evolutec because this patent application ring fences a very wide field of discovery,'' he added.

The company's work focuses mainly on ticks, which feed on the blood of animals around the world and transmit serious illness to humans such as Lyme's disease. But inside the unpopular parasite's palate lie hundreds of biologically active molecules that could be developed into drugs.

Since many of the same active molecules are found in snake venom and spiders, the company wants patent protection in those areas as well to prevent rivals from imitating its work. ``There is some very interesting science going on at the interface between host and ticks,'' Evolutec Chief Executive Clive Bennett told Reuters.

``Ticks have salivary glands that we are discovering can do remarkable things. We believe it will be a very fertile platform for the discovery of novel molecules,'' said Bennett, who joined Evolutec in January after retiring from a long career at German chemical giant Hoescht, now part of Aventis. Some ticks, for example, take several weeks to feed on a host but avoid detection by releasing compounds that prevent swelling or itching in the area.

Evolutec has so far taken six molecules with therapeutic potential into the drug development phase. In two areas, related to asthma and allergic conjunctivitis, the company will probably be ready for clinical trials later this year. It would then take several years before the drugs could hit the market.

Asthma and allergic conjunctivitis are major medical markets worth about $12 billion and $1 billion a year.

Bennett said the company raised 1.8 million pounds in its first round of financing in 1998, and was involved in raising a second round of financing at the moment. The company, originally focused on vaccines and called ``Vacs of Life'', has a five-year research agreement with the Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology at Oxford University.

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